for the job When The Right
Jerkbait
Shallow water 0-5 feet:
In the past few years the popularity of jerkbaits among anglers has become apparent. Anglers have found jerkbaits to be among the most effective lures at coaxing suspended
Clausen employs shallow water jerkbaits during the late spring and summer months. “The shallow water jerk- bait technique is one i’ve been really hoping to keep secret,” Clausen explains, “I’ve had great success using the floating jerkbaits when bass are guarding fry.” Clausen has found the subtle action of the Megabass Silent Riser to be his weapon of choice when the spawn is over and the bass are guarding fry, “The Silent Riser is a real finesse jerkbait. It’s almost completely silent, just a very light rattle, and it actually floats. Bass are trying to protect their fry from anything that could harm them,” Clausen explain, “but they aren’t going to move very far away so you’ve gotta put the bait right in their strike zone, what better way to do that then with a jerkbait.” In order to match the most aggravating of intruders, Clausen uses baits that most closely resemble enemy number one for
the water temperatures reach ex- tremes bass migrate to deeper wa- ter seeking out more stability. The reason bass suspend isn’t always clear, but common knowl- edge suggests one of three possibilities: • Bass seek out stable water temperatures that are pro- vided by deeper water. The deeper water isn’t suscep- tible to the temperature fluctuations of shallow water. • Bass remain above the thermocline which is oxygen poor. In their search for the deep water and stable tem- peratures they are unable to go past a certain depth due to the lack of oxygen so they remain suspended at the deepest possible depth. • Bass are opportunistic feeders and shad present that opportunity. Shad also prefer stable, oxygen rich water therefore they also suspend. If you are able to find bait using electronics you will likely notice a depth pattern. Bass will likely also be suspended at that depth for com- fort and to feed on the shad.
bass into biting, but with all the options available to fisher- men today how do you choose which one to use? FLW Pro- fessional Angler Luke Clausen has used his years of experi- ence to fine tune his approach and narrow down his bait selection. He shares his methodology, and breaks down jerk- baits by depth:
Spring 2012
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